Official Topic What Game(s) Are You Currently Playing on the Vita?

Terramax I actually think there literally is a way to turn clothing destruction off... Or at least the cutscenes that come with it. Also, a pro tip for playing such games in the train: make sure you're in a corner with your back to the wall of the wagon! I've played a lot of Shinovi Versus without feeling awkward that way in the train! I'm 100% with you on the costumes thing though! I think they came with DLC codes for extra costumes but I'm not sure if Asia got more costume DLC. What comes with the cart is incredibly minimal and very disappointing though.

Started playing Borderlands 2 the other day & boy is that text small. Having to regularly squint at the screen to see what's what. Apart from that, quite an enjoyable game, though I can't imagine that I'll play for long periods of time. Maybe dip in and out of every so often.

Eye strain and headaches sadly. I played it last night for 10 minutes and my eyes started hurting and I got a headache right after. Whilst playing, it felt like I was squinting at the screen continuously, trying to see what was happening on screen.

Eye strain and headaches sadly. I played it last night for 10 minutes and my eyes started hurting and I got a headache right after. Whilst playing, it felt like I was squinting at the screen continuously, trying to see what was happening on screen.

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I had only headache even while playing this on PS TV, normally I would not have that issue because of too unstable framerate but this is one of those rare cases.

Well I finally finished Utawarerumono Mask of Truth (took me long enough), and wow... that was a big journey (Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth).

(I am a slower reader so finishing this in 20/30 hours less is possible without a issue)

Short story, I love the games and their story.

Long story then (and probably confusing too )

The following is for both games together as they are essentialy 1 story I will talk about them as 1 game.

I really like the art, it's simple but very nicely made and the background always fits the situation, the character 2d art is also nicely made and changes depending of the reaction of the character or the situation, it's not like with some VN's where the characters move or are animated, it's simple but very effective 2D art.

The music is same story, it fits the situations almost perfectly, same goes for background music/sounds.

As for music most of the time it's instrumental only but in some more important scenes there are fitting vocals too, but do yourself a favor and play this with headphones or good speakers (but with headphones the immersion is just so much better).

Gameplay wise there are SRPG parts and they are done well enough in my opinion, they start easy but end up harder toward the end of the game (and after you finish the whole story both games have a mode with new fights and crushing difficulty, these fights however are not story related at all).

It's a simple grid based system just like the Disgaea games use, your characters can hold items and from specific levels they also can do special attacks, also their status during battle can also change to stuff like poisoned, dazed and so on.

It's simple but the battles are fun and have a option between normal and hard difficulty.

Talking about the battles they are in 3d and where the VN's parts are 2D sometimes small parts of the story is in a 3d environment, these mostly start just before a battle begins (but when the characters talk you see their 2D visuals at that moment with the whole environment in 3d behind them).

3D graphics look fine on the Vita (less on PS4 but I didn't play that version, I only saw gameplay videos of it) and most of the time the performance is fine, more towards the end of the game there are performance issues like stutters in 3D parts but outside of the battles, luckily there was only 1 time the audio did stutter because of this for a second.

Then the characters, this is more of a personal opinion but they are memorable and lovable, sure some characters didn't get enough time to be more fleshed out but almost all of the main cast had enough screen time and back story.

The story is without spoiling great, but opinions will always differ.

You laugh when the characters laugh, you cry when they do and you are happy when they are because stuff goes well.

I could spoil the game for who wants to but I won't, it would be a waste to know certain stuff if you ever want to play this game, and for those who still want to see spoilers there is google that could answer it all.

(this really starts to look like a review lol)

Utawarerumono was a impuls purchase based on a youtube video ( this video ) and I didn't even know if I would like everything the game offered, but what that video showed was enough for me to buy the game.

And I love it, all above explains enough (I hope) and this is the first game that made me cry, laugh, become angry and feel like a part of the story all together, and playing this while drinking a cup of tea or coffee was a pure pleasure, I don't regret buying these games and I dare to say they end up in my top 3 best games I played in my life.

There is only 1 bad thing, I want more and after finishing the second game I felt empty because of that, the journey came to an end and I hope that someday they make a follow up of this...

(and of course opinions can differ, maybe I like these games too much and maybe some people like them less or even hate them, but I don't care because everybody has the right to have a opinion about a game and as long someone respects my opinion I will do the same about their as long their points are valid)

Essentialy these are the 2nd and 3rd game, but the first Utawarerumono never came officialy to the west.

I did some research about the first game and even while some people say that playing the first game is a must, I disagree because even while some of the old characters sometimes do show up in these 2 games, not playing the first game didn't ruin the experience or made me "miss something" that was needed to enjoy Mask of Deception/Truth.

The story of these 2 is totally different and is around a different cast of characters, the old ones just show up once in a while but don't really change the experience that needs you to play the first game.

It's not a must to play the first game, but if you want to and have that option then do that or watch the anime of the first game.

Well that took me long enough, the games and this whole "essay" of a comment, but my Vita needs a little rest after these games

That is pretty much a mini-review! Awesome, and great to hear they're good! Time to see if I can track down Mask of Truth still (only Nedgame seems to stock it for a whopping €50... Might need to take the plunge though), because some of these full retail releases are slowly disappearing!

As for me, I've been playing a few of the digital games I've purchased recently. I've played a bit of Jack n Jill DX which is a simple but fun runner with an amazing GameBoy aesthetic that I still can't get enough of. Basically, if you're like me and you sometimes come across really fun looking mobile games, but they're infested with microtransactions ('energy'), you have an okay-ish phone that, if it can run the game, has its battery drained instantaneously, and you prefer to keep it well charged in case you need it for communication, then this is for you. It's super easy to pick up and play a few levels and it's a lot easier on the mind than your average JRPG with complex interwoven stories and a triple-layered battle system.

I've also played a little Tetra's Escape. It's 2D planed puzzler with bright, colourful 3D graphics in which you need to navigate your 'Tetras' to the escape portal. You do this by turning the Tetras into the shapes of Tetris blocks, creating a path along the way. The game has a nice variety of puzzles, new features get introduced along the way and fairly quickly I found myself scratching my head and getting to the end by way of experimentation more than careful thought alone. Despite having put all my points into my INT stat, Tetra's Escape is a painful reminder that I suck at Spatial Awareness. Pretty fun though, and definitely worth the €5.

Finally, and I left the best for last, I Am the Hero. It's a gorgeous 2D brawler that takes you to the dirty streets of wherever. The art is really good and frequently I turn to my wife and show her what's going on on my beautiful OLED. I've also given her the headphones already a few times, as the bass-heavy, dirty, grimey electro tracks really pump up the atmosphere, with even a few hardcore house tracks that really fit the atmosphere. The gameplay is super smooth and the game offers an awesome variety of combos. I don't think it's a very long game, I've played it now twice for almost an hour and I think I'm making headway. After finishing it once you unlock a higher difficulty though for those that want it, and there's even challenges. I myself am also not that great at this game, so who knows what I'll get into still.

Oh, and writing all this reminds me of the painful truth that I love gaming, but despite all the hours I've pumped into it, I never have gotten good at it...

The Utawarerumono series really is great and are probably my favourite games on the vita. Took me 34 and 51 hours respectively, so it definitely looks like you got your time and money's worth out of them. The soundtrack in particular was a standout and I also loved the quality of life features like being able to change the title screen background image and music to reflect the mood of the section of the story I was up to.

I did some research about the first game and even while some people say that playing the first game is a must, I disagree because even while some of the old characters sometimes do show up in these 2 games, not playing the first game didn't ruin the experience or made me "miss something" that was needed to enjoy Mask of Deception/Truth.

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I have to disagree with this. Sure, you might get sufficient enjoyment experiencing the story of just the Yamato gang, but you are missing out on all the backstory of the Tuskur characters. If you haven't watch the anime/played the first game, obviously you won't care for them, but watching the journeys of two distinct groups of characters and seeing them come together, intertwining into a single narrative was very rewarding.

It's a shame ATLUS hasn't localised the remake so that we could play the full trilogy on the vita.

simplebeianton The remake of the first is fairly recent in Japan, though right? I think there's a chance we'll still see it, if only on the PS4. Did we hear anything about the brawler and whether it comes? I don't remember.

Otherwise there's an anime to watch that covers the first game. I'm sure that it'll add, to have watched the anime, or have played the first game, but I think Vita_Girl's point is that it isn't necessary. I'm sure that the parts with the characters of the first game will be much more meaningful if you know them already, but that doesn't mean that the two stories that are out on the Vita can't be understood in their own right without knowing the previous story, and I think that's the point here.

The Utawarerumono series really is great and are probably my favourite games on the vita. Took me 34 and 51 hours respectively, so it definitely looks like you got your time and money's worth out of them. The soundtrack in particular was a standout and I also loved the quality of life features like being able to change the title screen background image and music to reflect the mood of the section of the story I was up to.

I have to disagree with this. Sure, you might get sufficient enjoyment experiencing the story of just the Yamato gang, but you are missing out on all the backstory of the Tuskur characters. If you haven't watch the anime/played the first game, obviously you won't care for them, but watching the journeys of two distinct groups of characters and seeing them come together, intertwining into a single narrative was very rewarding.

It's a shame ATLUS hasn't localised the remake so that we could play the full trilogy on the vita.

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It seems I didn't make it clear in my previous comment but with "research" I do mean I watched the anime of the first game.

And like TheAtom says I do indeed mean that you can easily enjoy Mask of Deception/Truth without knowing anything about the first game/anime, sure by watching the first anime and reading the Wiki I do know why Kuon (1 of the main characters) calls certain characters her mothers for example, but it doesn't add enough to say you must watch or play the first Uta, I would say do it if you care about the small backstory details but it doesn't add any dramatically big information that without it you couldn't enjoy these 2.

So in short, watch the first anime or play the first game if you care about these small details however without knowing them both games are clear enough about 99% of the stuff in them, so you can still enjoy everything purely by playing these 2.

I'm sure that the parts with the characters of the first game will be much more meaningful if you know them already, but that doesn't mean that the two stories that are out on the Vita can't be understood in their own right without knowing the previous story, and I think that's the point here.

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Yup that is the point, but now that you start about the characters from the first game here is my simple opinion about it.

In Mask of Deception it doesn't really matter if you don't know certain old characters their past until 3/4 of the game and even if you do there is again a small issue why it maybe won't make much sense why certain people are connected to each other (see spoiler if you really want too know it, otherwise this is enough information)

First anime doesn't mention Kuon, the game does from what I know but I didn't play the game but watched the anime and read the wiki, issue is that older character from the first Utawarerumono are connected to Kuon but Mask of Deception/Truth takes places years after Kuon her birth (from what I understand she is born just before the end of the first game, gameplay of the first game shows Oboro holding baby Kuon).

So here is the issue, unless you specifically know who Kuon is which isn't clearly explained in Deception for a good part of the game you won't know why she calls Karulau her mother, or Touka or why she knows specific people from Tuskur.

Yes by playing the first game / watching the anime YOU will know who they are, but the one major problem is they left out the details of Kuon's birth in the anime.

The remake of the first is fairly recent in Japan, though right? I think there's a chance we'll still see it, if only on the PS4. Did we hear anything about the brawler and whether it comes? I don't remember.

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I'm hopeful it gets localised at all, but it definitely won't come to vita, especially seeing that Catherine doesn't seem like it will make it either. I'm not too sure about Zan, it seems to be a retelling of Mask of Deception. Its soundtrack is also pretty great.
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In Mask of Deception it doesn't really matter if you don't know certain old characters their past until 3/4 of the game and even if you do there is again a small issue why it maybe won't make much sense why certain people are connected to each other (see spoiler if you really want too know it, otherwise this is enough information)

So here is the issue, unless you specifically know who Kuon is which isn't clearly explained in Deception for a good part of the game you won't know why she calls Karulau her mother, or Touka or why she knows specific people from Tuskur. Yes by playing the first game / watching the anime YOU will know who they are, but the one major problem is they left out the details of Kuon's birth in the anime.

I think this is the case regardless, you are not suppose to really know who Kuon is until later. I haven't played the game either, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't named in Uta 1 and enough time has passed that she could be the child of any of the other characters. Her calling other characters like Karura "mother" is meant to throw you off, but it clearly shows that they helped raise her when she was growing up and that she has a close connection to them. I definitely agree that they should have shown that Yuzuha had a child in the anime.

I would say do it if you care about the small backstory details but it doesn't add any dramatically big information that without it you couldn't enjoy these 2.

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Sure, you can enjoy it without experiencing the original story, but I could just as easily say that playing Mask of Deception is not required because it is just backstory, you learn about the characters personalities and motivations in Mask of Truth and there is enough exposition at the beginning of the game to understand what is going on and enjoy it. Therefore it is fine to play just Mask of Truth because it can be enjoyed in it's own right.

There is plenty of information that cannot be understood by playing just the vita games. The importance is debatable I guess. Off of the top of my head:

Who Kuon's mother was and also the origin of her sickness. This was skipped by the anime, but could be figured out easily enough if you had seen it. It clearly stated that Kuon's mother was sickly, died giving birth and there was only one character from the original series that fit this description. It is also reinforced by Oboro being so overprotective in the games.

Who Hakuoro was, why he was sealed and why we should be happy he became a human at the end. Without the context of the first game, he appears to be just a random deity that appears towards the end of the game and has his powers stolen by Haku.

How and why all the humans were turned into tatari. I believe the games simplify it to human experimentation for immortality, but the original story shows that it was actually due to Hakuoro's rage after his wife and child were killed and dissected. Haku journeys around the world, corrects Hakuoro's mistake and put them to rest. If you don't know why Hakuoro was originally sealed, you might question why he wasn't able to do it himself.

You could fail make the connection that Hakuoro is Kuon's father (which is quite possible if you are not paying attention in the final scene between two characters that you don't know anything about) and the origin of Kuon's power being inherited would not be understood, or the fact it was holding back her illness.

Why Kuon named him 'Haku'. You might deduce that he was named after Hakuoro towards the end, but you wouldn't understand how similar they were. A kind-hearted amnesiac man who became a huge influence to those around them.

I guess you could say this points are minor, but they absolutely enrich the story and the ending. I'm generally not that good at analysing and remembering details in stories, so there are probably much more glaring points that I have missed.

Anyway, my point is that characters from the original story appear directly in Mask of Truth and it expects you to understand certain story elements. If you haven't seen the original series, a lot of meaning is lost throughout the story and in the literal final scene of Mask of Truth. In my opinion, that justifies saying that watching the original series is essential.

Yesterday I finished (platinum'ed!!) I Am the Hero. Maaaan, what a gorgeous little game that is! Absolutely love it! I already talked about it above but I just want to say again that the game's 100% worth the full digital price of €10, definitely the currently discounted price of €8, and also almost certainly the price for the physical edition that EAS is coming up with in Q1 2019.

I was thinking of exploring the harder difficulties before turning to other games, but now that the physical's announced I'll leave that for when I got the cartridge in my hands. I have an inkling the story might change a little on harder difficulties (at least, the descriptions seem to indicate it, but I haven't gotten to them yet because I found the 'standard' difficulty already quite rough (little disclaimer: I'm absolutely horrible at these types of action games (despite my love for them) so do not feel intimidated by that statement; the game's very doable and has enough other difficulties to be challenging to skilled veterans of the genre, I'm sure)). The story is pretty minimalistic, but this works very well for its short playthrough and the collectables (some of which can be an absolute bitch to find without a guide) really add a lot to it. The best way to play it is probably to get the collectables in your first playthrough as they really seem to prelude the ending, but I can't imagine you'll actually get to it without a guide, and playing without one on a first playthrough is, for me, almost always a must. I eh... I'm a fan, yeah.

Vita_Girl : what was the difficulty you were playing on ? Did you take the Dream Arena mode after beating the Mask of Deception or Mask of Truth ? Anyway it's nice to see that another fan of Utawarerumono has just rised up! I got through both games during the summer (starded on July and ended on October), and it immediately became my favourite game on Vita (along with Steins Gate). But one thing that needs to be admitted here: some of the battles on hard difficulty are tough, especially those few at the end of the Mask of Truth (like fighting these Woshis Yatanwabe or Raiko - this battle took me at least 1 hour to complete).

Just started Gal Gun and Bullet Girls 1. The former has slowdown galore! WTH? It's not even that demanding to pull off. And why aren't the cutscenes unskippable? Like anyone cares for these lengthy conversations? I'm still enjoying it regardless. It makes me realise how much I miss rail shooters (one of my favourite genres). Would really like a Panzer Dragoon-esque game on the Switch! But I digress. Not sure if it's worth the £16 I paid (PSN download). Here's hoping I'll get my monies worth through replay value as I hear it's only a few hours long (as to be expected for this kind of game).

The first Bullet Girls, surprisingly, has more detailed character animations than Phantasia! The controls are technically better suited than Phantasia too, but you have to hold the run button which is a pain in the backside. I can't help but feel they put at least a little more thought in the level design too, as opposed to Phantasia, where it was basically bland, open areas most of the time. Which is not to say that I didn't like the 3rd installment. But it does seem like they cut some corners, presumably as they developed for both the Vita and PS4. I sure hope they make a 4th on the Switch.

Damn, starting to sound like a real Switch fanboy here. Or maybe it's because I can't rely on Ninty to make any games that I want to play. >